Partnership to further global quest by N.Y.U.

New York University, well on its way to becoming the first truly global university, is starting a new partnership with the University of the People, a unusual nonprofit online school offering free classes to students around the world, the New York Times reports. With the collaboration, students who show exceptional promise after at least a year of studies with the University of the People could apply to N.Y.U.’s Abu Dhabi campus and be eligible for financial aid…

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How online classrooms are helping Haiti rebuild its education system

When University of the People founder Shai Reshef welcomed 16 Haitian students to their first day of class last Thursday, he told them that life might prevent some of them–as it does students in every part of the world–from completing their degrees at the free, online university.

“They looked at me and said, you just don’t understand,” Reshef says. “We cannot drop out. We have to finish it. That’s our lives. It’s like dying if we don’t graduate.”

Haitians have good reason for thinking of education a bit differently than much of the rest of the world. In a country where just over fifty percent of the population meets the CIA World Factbook’s definition of 87% of the country’s institutions of higher learning, it became even more precious. While reconstructing the destroyed universities is a long-term task, University of the People is hoping to give Haitian students a way to continue their educations before it’s completed, reports Mashable. By opening a center where students can take advantage of the scarce electricity, computers, and Internet connection required to enroll in the University of the People’s free online courses, the organization hopes to not only ease Haiti’s current woes, but also help build its future……Read More

Free online school coming to some in Haiti

Most of Haiti's campuses were destroyed in January's earthquake.
Most of Haiti's campuses were destroyed in January's earthquake.

The founder of the tuition-free online University of the People said providing an education for Haitians after a massive earthquake destroyed most of their country’s colleges could demonstrate the value of a web-based university infrastructure targeting those in developing nations.

The university, launched last year by founder and president Shai Reshef, announced Sept. 20 that it would join the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) in the organization’s efforts to help Haiti recover from a Jan. 12 earthquake that killed between 200,000 and 300,000 people, according to government estimates.

University of the People committed to enrolling 250 college students from Haiti into its free online programs, including computer science or business administration, over the next three years. The 600-student university is not yet accredited, but officials have pledged to achieve accreditation in the coming years.…Read More

Free online university boosting students’ computer access

University of the People aims to enroll 15,000 students in its first five years.
University of the People aims to enroll 15,000 students in its first five years.

The free online University of the People has teamed up with a global computing network, aiming to harness the network’s computer resources in six developing nations where students are often without internet access.

The university, launched in September 2009 with an inaugural class of 179 students, announced its partnership with the nonprofit World Computer Exchange (WCE) on July 21. Officials from University of the People and the WCE—which aims to bolster technology in the developing world—said their goal was to establish communication centers in six developing countries by January.

The WCE, which has 2,650 computer labs globally, will provide web access to students who want to take free online classes but can’t afford it or don’t have a computer, officials said.…Read More

Report details coming trends in campus technology

Typing on a laptop could be outdated in four or five years, according to ed-tech projections.
Typing on a laptop could be outdated in four or five years, according to ed-tech projections.

Open scholarly content will become more commonplace in higher education in the next year as online universities and textbook companies organize and harness the internet’s mass of educational material, according to a report that predicts campus technology advances within the next five years.

The 2010 Horizon Report, released this week by education technology advocacy group EDUCAUSE and the New Media Consortium, describes technological changes that will have the greatest impact on college students and faculty.

The seventh annual report’s short-term prediction focuses on open content—a trend buoyed by MIT’s Open Courseware Initiative and the Open Knowledge Foundation, among others.…Read More

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